


Innocent Guilt

by Scouts_Mockingbird



Series: Heroes of Westerburg [1]
Category: Heathers (1988), Heathers: The Musical - Murphy & O'Keefe
Genre: F/M, God I can't tag anything because spoilers, Modern AU, Mystery, au-Veronica didn't go to Heather's, everyone is in here, people still die
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-31
Updated: 2017-09-04
Packaged: 2018-12-22 00:48:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 20,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11956218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scouts_Mockingbird/pseuds/Scouts_Mockingbird
Summary: People who bully Veronica Sawyer are ending up dead, and she's worried that her edgy new boyfriend might be behind it.  With danger around every corner, it's up to Veronica to keep her high school safe.





	1. Strength

**Author's Note:**

> AHHHH! I can't believe I'm starting this so soon after finishing Witness, but I had this idea and it wouldn't go away so I'm putting it out into the universe. First things first, my apologies to people who know lots of stuff about technology and programming, I don't but my characters do so a lot of stuff will probably be really wrong. I'm sorry. I also want to say that this is not like any of my other fics in that it has its own plot and does not directly follow the movie or musical. If that's what you're looking for, check out my story Witness. If not, Enjoy!

Veronica Sawyer gritted her teeth and lifted her chin. She was not afraid and she would not back down. The stairs leading up to Westerburg High School yawned in front of her and she was frozen in front of them. Beside her, JD squeezed her hand.

            “Strength, Veronica. You can do this.” Logically, she knew he was right. Heather Chandler wouldn’t physically hurt her, Veronica wouldn’t literally die today, but she felt as if she were mounting the steps to the guillotine.

            “You don’t know what she’ll do. You don’t know what she’ll say. God, if she found out about Saturday she’ll drag you into this too.” Veronica and JD had become official when she had broken into his house over the weekend, after a bad experience at a party. The next morning, she had been prepared to go and beg Heather for forgiveness, but JD had talked her out of it. Well, there hadn’t been that much talking. He had… persuaded her to stay with him for a little longer.

            “I don’t care.” It was probably true. Nothing seemed to faze JD very much; at least not in public. When it was just the two of them, she had seen a completely different side to him, a side she really thought she could fall for. He was pretty amazing all around. A tall dark mystery wrapped in a trench coat. His mismatched eyes— one brown and one blue—completed the look perfectly. Though he wasn’t the kind of guy the Heathers would have approved of, he was exactly Veronica’s type.

            Veronica took a deep breath and prepared to take the first step to her doom. JD was still waiting patiently beside her, he had promised to be with her when Heather Chandler took her down.

Surprisingly, Chandler wasn’t the first Heather she saw. Duke and McNamara approached her before she made it to her locker. She sighed loudly, “Well, it looks like my assassins have failed me.” JD snorted, and tried to hide it with a fake coughing fit.

Heather Duke looked shocked, “How could you be so insensitive, Veronica? After what happened on Sunday I would have thought even you could show some respect!”

Veronica was extremely confused now, “Wait, what happened on Sunday? Why am I insensitive?” She noticed for the first time that Heather McNamara’s eyes were red, like she had been crying.

Duke rolled her eyes, “God Veronica, why are you such a pillow case? Heather killed herself on Sunday morning. Don’t you ever check twitter? Or instagram? I did a really beautiful tribute post, you should see it.”

Wow. Veronica had left her phone off all day Sunday to avoid whatever shit Chandler would spread online, and apparently she’d missed something huge.

“Heather… killed herself? How?” She had never had to deal with anything this serious in her life, and she had no idea what to say.

McNamara sniffed, “She typed a note on her phone about how she had been faking all her confidence and inside she was in a lot of pain, then she drank a bunch of drain cleaner.” Heather was actually crying now, and Veronica was a little touched. Chandler had been a bitch, but she must have been nice enough to her friends. Someone would miss her.

Veronica didn’t. She felt only relief. And guilt. She was probably supposed to feel sad that her best friend had died. Unfortunately, her worst enemy had also died, so her feelings were mixed. Heather Duke, on the other hand, was acting like she’d won some kind of competition by outliving Chandler.

Only JD had no reaction at all to the news. The whole student body was some shade of freaked out about the shocking death of the most popular/hated girl in school, except for him. Veronica supposed it was because he hadn’t been at Westerburg long enough to understand the impact Heather had had on all of their lives. Though she did think it was weird that he didn’t even seem surprised.

She spent the first part of the morning in a confused daze, waiting for Heather to pop up behind her and ruin her life. The reality set in just before fourth period. She hid in the bathroom until everyone had gone to class, then went out into the hallway to text JD.

_VS: Hey, Can we ditch?? I’m freaking out_

She got a response seconds later.

_JD: Sure, where are you?_

_VS: Outside the first floor bathroom. I’ll do the note._

She set to work on a detailed note from the nurse about how Veronica Sawyer needed to go home because she was grieving, and Jason Dean had agreed to take her. The nurse’s handwriting was one of the few that Veronica had memorized so she could do it quickly. Among the others were: her mom’s, Heather Chandler’s, and Ms. Fleming’s. Most of them were for practical, skipping class purposes; Heather’s was so that it was easier to do her homework.

By the time JD showed up, her masterpiece was finished. Veronica mustered up some tears to lend legitimacy to her note. The office worker was so sympathetic to her “grief” that she didn’t question the fact that the nurse had allowed another student to take her home.

Veronica felt better once she got outside, but she didn’t really know what to do with herself. She couldn’t go home, and Sherwood was not burdened with an overabundance of entertainment options. JD requested a 7/11 trip, and she certainly didn’t have anything better to do.

They sat outside the cinderblock building drinking slushies. She felt strangely compelled to talk about Heather Chandler, and JD was listening patiently as she alternated between grudging respect and outright hatred.

“Okay, she was a mixed bag for sure, but what I don’t understand is how you fell in with the lip gloss Gestapo in the first place. They don’t really seem like your crowd.” She was a little surprised to realize that she hadn’t already told him this.

“It’s kind of crazy, and you’re totally right; I was a total loser before they dragged me up into the seventh circle of popularity.” She paused to gather her thoughts, “It started on the first day of school. I was in the bathroom at the right time I guess; because I heard Heather complaining that she looked fat in a picture she wanted to post. I offered to fix it for her, if she would let me sit with them at lunch. I just wanted people to think I had the Heathers’ approval and protection. But, apparently Photoshop is a very valuable skill when you have four thousand instagram followers.” She shrugged, from there it had been shopping trips and hours at a salon getting her hair layered and nails painted. At the end of it all, Heather had given her the blue necklace she was still wearing. All the Heathers had one, in whichever color was their “signature look”.

JD looked amused by the whole thing. “You didn’t tell me you were into photo editing.”

“Yeah, I took a photography class over the summer between freshman and sophomore years. I like seeing what I can do with just my phone camera and the right software.” She didn’t want to get too detailed. She had a habit of getting too excited about the nitty-gritty of her process and what she could do with an average photo to make it beautiful.

“I do some computer stuff too. Not artistic stuff really, more technical.” JD admitted sheepishly. Veronica thought it was cool.

“So what kind of technical stuff do you do?” She was genuinely curious, maybe with his tech skills and her more artistic angle they could do something cool together.

He sighed and seemed to debate telling her, “Okay, fine.” She sent him a gloating smile, “I do a lot of coding stuff. Right now I’m working on a more efficient means of mass communication. So, say you want to send out a message to a hundred different phones. You need to be able to coordinate all those numbers and keep them centrally located, and organized enough that all you would have to do is type the message and hit send. Right now, systems are a lot more disjointed and it’s a really involved process that can take a lot of time. I’m trying to see if there’s a way to streamline the process.” Veronica was super impressed, it clearly wasn’t just a project he tinkered with for shits and giggles, it was a difficult problem with a lot of potential benefits if he worked it out.

“That’s really cool! You could figure out a way to send a message to the whole school if you wanted!”

“Technically, I already figured it out, I’m just cutting down some steps and making it easier. But, yeah.” He seemed a little embarrassed by her enthusiasm; she assumed it was because he didn’t usually tell anyone about it. “So, if you could send a message to everyone, what would it say?”

Veronica laughed, “Ugh that sounds like something from that stupid ‘Sleepover Questions’ app Martha has.” Suddenly, it dawned on her, “Oh shit! Martha! I haven’t seen her since the party. I have to go apologize.” She panicked. Martha was sensitive, and she took little things hard. What had happened at the party was not a little thing.

“Okay, calm down V. I’ll take you to her house, no problem.” Veronica was so worked up that she barely registered the fact that he’d given her a nickname. Later, she would have time to wonder what his deal was with initial names.

“Hang on, let me text her.” She was so mad at herself for forgetting her best friend. Her only friend, if you didn’t count JD who was more than a friend.

_VS: Hey Martha, can I come by? I owe you an apology_

_MD: Sure._

_VS: On my way! JD is giving me a ride so it’ll only be like two minutes!_

_MS: Ok_

Martha’s texts usually contained about eight million exclamation marks and four emojis, so her colorless texts were a bad sign. “We’ve got to motor. She’s not doing well.

JD just nodded and handed her his spare helmet. She loved his bike for the aesthetic but actually riding it with him still made her a bit nervous. Still, it was the fastest way to get to Martha’s so she was grateful.

They arrived in about five minutes (Thank god Sherwood was so small!) and knocked on Martha’s door. She answered wearing a t-shirt with a unicorn on it that said ‘I don’t believe in you!’. It was very Martha. “Hi, Veronica. Oh, and… um new kid.” She looked at JD uncomfortably. Veronica had to admit that at first glance he was pretty intimidating.

“Greetings and salutations, I’m Jason Dean, call me JD. Or new kid, I get that a lot.” He smiled at Martha, and Veronica was impressed. Her edgy, alternative boyfriend could be charming when he wanted to.

“Hi,” Martha smiled cautiously, “I’m Martha.”

“I’ve heard wonderful things about you, Miss Dunnstock.” Okay, maybe he was laying it on too thick. Veronica wanted Martha to like him, but she didn’t want her to _like_ him. Martha took her crushes seriously; it wouldn’t go well.

Martha actually blushed and invited them into her house. She led the way up to her bedroom. She hesitated a bit at the door, looking at JD. “I’m not supposed to have boys in my room,” she said, biting her lip nervously.

“I promise to behave,” he said with a smile. Martha nodded and opened the door, letting them in. JD stood in the doorway, momentarily stunned.

Veronica understood why. Martha’s room was amazing. It was painted pink, but most of the walls were covered in drawings and paintings that Martha had done. She loved to draw fantasy scenes, so most of the pictures had fairies or unicorns, but she also did amazing celebrity portraits. And a lot of portraits of Ram. A lot.

            JD was still marveling at the artwork everywhere, “did you do all of these?”

            Martha smiled shyly, “Yeah, I just like to draw a lot.”

            “You’re really talented. Do you show them to anyone, or just keep them here?” JD asked, looking closely at a drawing Martha had done of Veronica last year. It was a good one; Martha had drawn her like a romance novel heroine in a gorgeously detailed blue ball gown.

            “I post them online. I have a really active DeviantArt page, and it gets me connected with other people who like similar stuff.” JD nodded and continued to look at the paintings, occasionally stopping to look closer at one.

            Veronica took this as her chance. “Hey, Martha, I’m so sorry about what happened at Rams party. I should have told you not to come. I should have stopped it way sooner. I feel terrible, because you’re the best friend a girl could have, and I’ve been terrible.” Veronica hoped that covered everything. The prank at the party had been cruel, and partially her fault. A good friend wouldn’t have done that.

            Martha chewed on her lip a little bit, then finally said, “Are you done with the Heathers?”

            JD laughed at that, “Heather is done with the Heathers, so it’s safe to assume Veronica is.”

            “Oh my god, JD! Hashtag too soon!” Veronica threw a pillow at him, which he caught easily.

            Martha, on the other hand, burst into tears. “It’s my fault!”

            JD’s eyebrows shot up his forehead, leaving him looking rather comical. Veronica was mostly worried, “Martha, honey, how could this be your fault? Heather killed herself.”

            Martha sniffled, “I know, but after the party, I wished she would die. I was just so mad. I felt bad after I did it, but it was too late. When I woke up, she was dead.”

            Veronica was at a loss for words. Kind, sweet Martha had wished death on someone. In a weird way, Veronica was a little proud of her. JD was trying to hide the fact that he was laughing, so he seemed to be feeling the same way. She was on her own for comforting Martha then.

            “Look Martha, I think it would be hard to find someone at Westerburg who’s never wished Heather Chandler was dead. Is this why you skipped school?” Martha nodded, wiping her nose. “I don’t know why Heather killed herself, but I promise it wasn’t because you had the first mean thought of your life and wished that she’d die. Okay?”

            Martha nodded again, “Okay. So you’re really done with the Heathers?”

            Veronica smiled at her friend, “Yeah, I’m really done.”

            “Does that mean you can stay and hang out? Both of you, I mean.” Martha looked so hopeful that Veronica answered before asking JD.

            “Yeah, we can stay!”

            “Okay, great!” Martha said, “Sleepover Questions just updated, so there are tons of new ones, if you want to play?”

            This time it was JD who answered, “As long as you don’t mind explaining the rules. This will be my first game of Sleepover Questions.”

            Martha laughed, “There’s only one rule. You have to tell the truth!”

           

 


	2. Mourning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check out these aesthetic boards I made for the modern au characters! It also helps you get an idea of how I'm picturing them as I'm writing this. https://www.polyvore.com/heathers_modern_au/collection?id=6966620

The game went on for hours. At some point Mrs. Dunnstock brought in cookies and candy, and if she was surprised to see JD she didn’t say anything.

“Okay, okay!” Martha called over Veronica and JD’s laughter, “The next question is “If you were a meme, what would you be?”

“Oh, Oh! JD would totally be the ‘me, an intellectual’ one!” Veronica was very proud of her answer, so she helped herself to more Swedish fish.

Martha laughed, “I think he’s the edgelord one, or maybe ‘anyway, here’s wonderwall’ and Veronica, you’re the ‘me to me’ one, because you totally have a dark side.”

Veronica scoffed, “I only have a dark side because you’re all sunshine and rainbows. Compared to you, Mr. Rogers has a dark side!”

Martha pretended to be offended, “I’m serious, you like revenge!”

JD broke into a wicked-looking smirk, “my kind of girl.” He was also busily looking up ‘edgelord’ on his phone. “I am not this! I am an intellectual with philosophical ideologies that don’t match up with the ones supported by society!”

Veronica smirked, “Okay edgelord, whatever you say.” JD grabbed her and started tickling her, and she curled up, begging for mercy and howling with laughter. With tears in her eyes, she said, “Next question Martha, next question!”

“Okay, ooooh this is a good one! Who was your first crush? I’ll go first because he was my first and only crush; Ram!” Martha sighed and giggled girlishly.

JD groaned, “Martha, I really think you could do better. Ram is somehow simultaneously a dick and a pussy, which—while impressive—is not what you want in a boyfriend.”

Veronica laughed, she had been telling Martha this for years and it never made a difference. It seemed like Martha would always want her kindergarten boyfriend. “My turn,” she said to stop the inevitable description of all of Ram’s wonderful qualities. “My first crush was Mr. Ryker, my sixth grade English teacher.” It was not a fact she was proud of, but at least _she_ wasn’t still hung up on him.

“Oh, so you’re into the teacher thing, kinky.” JD winked.

“Ew! Don’t make it weird you two!” Martha was not having any of their flirtations shit. “JD, your turn. Who was your first crush?”

JD shrugged, clearly trying to act nonchalant, “I guess Veronica? I don’t know, I never really paid much attention to girls before I met her.” Veronica didn’t know what to make of that, but Martha clearly thought it was the sweetest thing in the world.

Martha was looking between the two of them with a huge smile, “So, this isn’t a game question, but I really want to know, how did you two get together? It seems really sudden.”

JD laughed, “That’s definitely a word you could use. Veronica came into my life like an asteroid. Kinda literally; she broke into my house at two in the morning.”

Martha looked shocked and Veronica was mortified. “Oh my god JD! I can’t believe you told her that!”

JD threw his hands up, “I thought you said you told her everything?”

Choosing to avoid the awkwardness Veronica grabbed the phone to look at the next question, “Describe your perfect date. Okay, mine would be—take notes JD— going for a drive somewhere with a nice coffee shop and a park nearby. I would want to drink good fair trade coffee and take pictures all day. Oh, and it’s fall because that’s my aesthetic.”

Martha smiled, “I would want to get dressed up and go to a fancy restaurant, and at some point there should be a ride in a horse-drawn carriage.” Veronica laughed; it was just so _Martha._

JD groaned, “Do I have to?”

Both girls said, “Yes!” In unison.

“Fine, but if I answer this one, Martha has to give me one of her drawings of Veronica.”

Martha beamed, “I’ll even let you pick which one.”

“Okay, I guess I would want to get slushies, go up to a lake, rent a row boat or something and just sit and watch the stars.” He shrugged and tried to play it cool. Veronica thought it was extremely romantic, and couldn’t help kissing him. Martha threw a pillow at them.

That ended up being the last question of the game. After that they just talked, joked, and took a million selfies in which JD tried to hide his face. It was the best night Veronica had had since she joined the Heathers, possibly because she wasn’t spending it with the Heathers.

Eventually it got late enough that Martha’s mom came in to tell them it was time to go home. They both thanked her for having them and left.

JD took Veronica to her house, but they decided to sit in her backyard for a bit. He wouldn’t be allowed in this late and she wasn’t ready to say goodbye to him just yet.

“I could really get used to being a loser again, JD. Tonight was so much fun.” Veronica snuggled in closer to JD, fall in Ohio usually meant warm days and cool nights and she was chilly. He took his coat off and put it around her.

“So things with the Heathers weren’t fun?” He asked.

“I mean, sometimes they were, I liked the shopping and the nail polish, and the frequent trips to Starbucks, but I spent so much of it worried that I would say or do the wrong thing. It was stressful. I don’t have to worry about anything with you and Martha.” It felt good to get that all off her chest, with no one to talk to she’d kept it all inside and it had been eating at her.

“That makes sense. I bet it was nice not to be bothered by people too.” They lapsed into silence, both of them thinking about how nice it would be to never be harassed again. JD was looking around the yard, and smiled when his eyes settled on the croquet set. “So, Veronica, are you up for a match?” He was giving her a rather suggestive smile, so she wasn’t sure exactly what type of croquet he had in mind.

“Ugh, I would love to but I should probably get to bed. I need to be well rested for the funeral tomorrow.”

JD looked disappointed but didn’t try to talk her into staying. “Okay. I’ll see you at school. Sleep well, Veronica.” He kissed her softly then crept out of her yard.

She went in to face her parents. They were surprisingly casual about everything. She told them she was at Martha’s, and they were fine with it. She didn’t mention JD.

Her parents brought up Heather Chandler and assured her that whatever she was feeling she could talk to them about. Veronica just nodded and went up to her room. She badly needed to write down everything that had happened today. She didn’t get the chance.

Her phone chimed from the pocket of her jacket, it was Heather McNamara.

_HM: Are you still a Heather?_

_VS: I don’t think so. Heather was going to cut me out after Saturday_

_HM: Darn. Can you come over before school tomorrow anyway? I need help finding an outfit_

_VS: Yeah sure._

_VS: Heather, are you doing okay? I know you were close to Heather. This must be hitting you hard._

_HM: yeah_

_HM: I just don’t get why she did it. I thought she had it all together_

_VS: She had us all fooled. Maybe all the work it took to be what she was took its toll. I know I couldn’t keep up with it_

_HM: Same. I should go to bed; I’ll see you tomorrow though._

_VS: See you tomorrow Heather_

Veronica wasn’t surprised to hear that McNamara also struggled with the burden of popularity. She had always tried so desperately to be whatever it was that Heather Chandler wanted her to be. She probably didn’t know what to do without that kind of leadership.

The next morning, Veronica woke up early. She dressed in black so she wouldn’t have to change for the funeral. Partially out of habit and partially because she thought it was what Heather would have wanted, Veronica accessorized in blue, and put on the little blue necklace that had symbolized her status as a Heather. It felt odd to wear it, but it would have been weirder not to.

Heather’s room was a mess when she got there. Yellow clothes were strewn across the normally pristine white bedroom. Veronica didn’t even see Heather coming before she was enveloped in an enthusiastic hug. “Veronica, thank god you’re here! I don’t own enough black. You have to wear black to a funeral but all Heather ever let me wear was yellow!”

This was going to be hard. “Okay, just calm down Heather. I’m sure you own a little black dress. Everyone owns one of those.” Veronica braved Heather’s enormous closet and began to take stock of its contents. She had a pair of black pants that would work. Veronica kept wading into the heaps of fabric. “AH HAH! Here, put this on. Wear it with the black pants and you’ll be perfect.” She handed Heather the black and white polka dot shirt she had found. It didn’t really matter what she wore, Veronica just thought she wanted someone to tell her what to do.

Heather sniffled a little, holding the shirt and pants, “Is it okay if I wear some yellow?”

Poor Heather. Veronica nodded, “I think Heather would have liked us to go to her funeral wearing our colors.”

Heather started crying again, and it ended up taking nearly an hour for Veronica to get her dressed, in makeup, and out the door. By the time they got to the school, first period was over. Veronica used the same grief excuse she had used yesterday and again, it worked like a charm.

The whole school seemed to be dressed in black to one degree or another. All anyone could talk about was Heather Chandler’s tragic suicide note, and how they had all misunderstood her. It would have been moving, except Veronica had the strange urge to remind everyone that they had hated her. People responded strangely to death.

Except for JD, who did not respond at all. He caught up to her at lunch so they could sit together, and he raised his eyebrows at her mourning attire.

“She was my friend, JD. Of course I’m wearing black to her funeral. And you can’t judge, you’re wearing black too!”

“That’s different, I always wear black.” He insisted.

Martha turned up just then, she probably didn’t own anything black, so she was wearing a purple shirt and jeans. “I bet he’s just jealous that everyone else is stealing his look.” Veronica was glad that Martha felt she could joke around with JD. He took himself too seriously anyway. JD rolled his eyes and didn’t mention it again. Maybe Martha was right.

The environment in the cafeteria was subdued. Kurt and Ram weren’t being assholes to everyone, and with only two Heathers at the table, they weren’t causing much trouble either. Veronica noticed that McNamara looked miserable, sitting across from Heather Duke, who had—surprisingly— accented her black dress with red, rather than her usual green. It looked like there would be a new Heather in charge soon enough. Veronica had hoped that Heather’s death might bring forth a new era of kindness and acceptance at Westerburg, but it was looking unlikely.

“I feel bad for Heather. McNamara, I mean.” She was greeted with blank stares from her companions. “She hasn’t been allowed to have an original thought since middle school, but now Heather is gone so she doesn’t know what to do with herself. Today, I had to go over to her house to pick out her outfit, and I think she’d just do whatever she was told to at this point. It’s not healthy.” Martha was nodding, and looked a little sympathetic. JD didn’t seem all that moved.

“If she wanted to be original she never should have fallen in with a bunch of diet coke heads,” he said with an unsympathetic shrug.

“Hey!” Veronica said, taking offense, “Watch what you say about them, I used to be a part of that.”

JD was unmoved, “yeah, used to. You figured out how shallow and fake it was and you were done. If McNamara had been with them for years, she’s had plenty of opportunities to do the same thing.”

“Just because she’s been mean or shallow in the past doesn’t mean she’s always going to be that way.” Martha said thoughtfully. “People change.”

“Not in my experience,” JD said cynically.

“Yeah, okay Edgelord,” Veronica said, trying to lighten the mood a little bit. She could swear that JD had just made the whole room colder.

He rolled his eyes, but smiled just enough to make Veronica feel better.

The rest of the school day flew by, and soon it was time for the funeral. The entire school showed up. Veronica couldn’t help but think that Heather would have loved the attention.

It was a sad service. The minister blamed youtube and “the evils of social media” for Heather’s death. Veronica didn’t know who to blame. It seemed so unlikely that Heather would kill herself, but surely the police would have investigated if it were something else. In the end, Veronica said a prayer to a god she wasn’t sure she believed in and left the service.

Outside it was bright and sunny. Despite what they had just been doing, everyone immediately fell into their normal patterns. JD went to get his bike, and she watched as Kurt Kelly and Ram Sweeny mocked and pushed a kid Veronica knew from the school newspaper. She couldn’t hear exactly what they were saying, but it was pretty clear that they thought he shouldn’t have gone to Heather’s funeral, despite the fact that she had also been on newspaper committee, so he probably knew her. Hell, everyone at Westerburg knew her; they all had a right to go to her funeral.

She noticed JD pull up on his bike. He watched the fight with a dark expression. She shivered a little, despite the nice weather. Sometimes she worried that maybe she didn’t know the real JD all that well.


	3. Messages

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YAY Another chapter! Enjoy!

Veronica went to JD’s house for the afternoon. It was easier to be there than to go home and face her parents’ misguided attempts at grief counseling. JD was flipping through channels on the tv while Veronica scrolled through post after post of heartfelt tribute to Heather Chandler.

“It’s just all such bullshit! I mean, I get that it’s really sad that she died young, I mean, I really think that she might have gone to college, grown up and become a decent person. But the thing is, she was not a decent person yet. But now she’s dead so we aren’t allowed to say anything bad about her ever again? UGH!” Veronica wished she had something to throw. She thought it would make her feel better.

JD sat through the whole rant. “People are uncomfortable with death, and their uncomfortable with their feelings. You’re more honest than them because you acknowledge that part of you is a little relieved that she’s dead. The rest of them are feeling it too, they just refuse to say it.” It sounded like more of his philosophy 101 stuff, but he did have a point.

“High school already has enough BS, why can’t we just acknowledge our feelings?” Veronica groaned.

JD shrugged and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, “Because then we’d all be doing exactly what Fleming wants, and we can’t make our teachers happy. It’s in the teenager job description.” Veronica rolled her eyes.

When JD’s dad walked in, he stood up so fast that he nearly knocked Veronica off the couch. “Hi, dad. Um, you’re home early.” It was the second time she had seen JD flustered, but Veronica couldn’t figure out why.

The man smiled tightly, looking Veronica up and down in a way that she found unsettling. “You didn’t tell me you have a girlfriend.”

She smiled shakily, “Hi, um, I’m Veronica.” She held out her hand, hoping to get this interaction back into normal territory. Mr. Dean pressed a can of beer she hadn’t even realized he was holding into her outstretched hand.

“Drink up, kid!” He laughed loudly as if someone had just told him a joke.

Veronica looked at JD for some kind of support but he was frozen in place, staring as if he were watching a car wreck in slow motion. She finally had to act on her own, “Uh, it’s a little… early.” It technically was, but somehow she didn’t think Mr. Dean would care all that much.

He didn’t. “Ah, so you’re one of them good girls, are you?” This time when he looked her up and down, he even tilted his head, like he didn’t even realize she was a person. “Well in that case, you should stay for dinner.”

_Oh Shit._ Thankfully JD finally snapped back into action. “I don’t know dad, today’s not really a good day,” JD trailed off.

“Come on, son. I want to get to know your little girlfriend here, who knows, she could be part of the family one day.”

Veronica’s phone chimed before she could pray for the sweet release of death. “Oh, look, Heather texted me. I gotta go, she needs me for something. Thanks anyway Mr. Dean, it was nice meeting you!” Veronica all but ran out of that house.

Once she was down the block, she looked at her phone.

_HM: Hey! SOS I need you. Can you come to my house?_

_VS: Heather, what’s wrong?_

_HM: Nothing bad, just please come ASAP!_

Veronica heaved a sigh. She really just wanted to curl up in her bed, but a true friend’s work was never done. She set her course for Heather’s mansion.

When she got there the party was already in full swing. Kurt and Ram were crazy drunk and Heather Duke was dancing on a table. The music was loud and the bass was up. Heather McNamara was sitting in the corner in tears. Veronica went directly over to her.

“Heather, what happened?” With Kurt and Ram here, it could have been something really awful.

Heather whimpered a little, apparently not quite ready to talk. Veronica put an arm around her shoulder, and Heather leaned into her. After a little while, she sniffled and said, “I just wanted them to come over so we could all talk about Heather together, but my parents left the liquor cabinet unlocked. Things went downhill from there.”

Veronica mentally rolled her eyes. Out loud, she said, “Heather, how much have you had to drink?”

Heather’s perfectly sculpted eyebrows drew together, “Many? Several? Oooh! Myriad! Like Heather said in her note.” Then Heather started crying again. She had definitely had myriad alcohol; Veronica just wasn’t sure what to do about it.

Heather looked at Veronica, “I’m sorry you came. They wanted me to text you, but I shouldn’t have done it.”

Veronica’s stomach dropped to her shoes. “Why did they want me to come, Heather?” Heather shrugged. “Heather, this is important, look at me, why did they want me to come?”

Heather Duke turned down the music and came over to stand over them. Kurt and Ram followed like drunk puppies behind her. Veronica! I’m so glad you came! We wanted to show you these screenshots we got!” She held out her phone, Veronica tried to take it from her, but Heather snatched it back. “You can look, but don’t touch.”

Veronica scrolled through the pictures with increasing horror. They were fake, but well done; anyone who saw them would be fooled. They were apparently sexts from her to Ram of all people. Each one was worse than the last.

_VS: Ram I dream about running my hands down your masculine chest_

_VS: Please Ram just give me a chance, my virgin pussy could totally rock your world ;)_

Veronica wanted to puke. Preferably on Heather Duke’s stupid smug face. The messages were awful, and they went on and on. “Look Heather, I don’t know what I did to make you hate me, but you seriously can’t send those to people. It’s cruel.”

Heather let out a shrill fake laugh, “I’m not doing this for me. I’m doing this to honor Heather’s memory. She wanted to ruin you, so I’m doing it on her behalf.” She turned dismissively, but looked back to sneer, “and by the way? I already sent them.”

Veronica stood up and walked away. She felt the tiniest bit bad for abandoning Heather McNamara, but she couldn’t deal with Heather’s shit along with her own right now. Once she got out of the house, Veronica wasn’t sure what to do with herself. Part of her wanted to go see JD, but she didn’t want to run into his dad. In the end, she just went home and curled up in her bed.

She lay like that for a couple hours. She didn’t turn her phone on. Her mom brought her a snack, but didn’t ask what was wrong. Veronica was glad, she didn’t want to have to lie to her. Eventually, she must have dozed off, because she became aware of a tapping sound coming from her window.

JD was perched unsteadily on a ladder outside. He looked almost as upset as she felt. She opened her window and he pulled himself in clumsily. He stood and brushed himself off.

JD looked extremely out of place in her bedroom. He was tall, dark, and intense. Veronica’s bedroom walls were painted light blue and covered in posters with literature quotes and motivational sayings. He wouldn’t even be able to stand up all the way in some of the places where the ceilings sloped down. It felt very strange to see him standing there, looking so awkward.

Finally, he broke the uncomfortable silence, “I saw the messages.” Veronica felt like a fist had wrapped around her heart and started squeezing. If JD had gotten them, certainly everyone else in the school had too.

“They aren’t real, JD. Heather Duke—“

“Veronica, of course they aren’t real. You wouldn’t send anything like this, and if you did, you wouldn’t send them to Ram Sweeny, and they don’t even sound like you!” JD looked really agitated, and he paced her room, coat flapping around him. Veronica felt relieved. At least there was one person on her side. Two, once she talked to Martha.

She stopped JD’s frantic laps across her bedroom; she grabbed his hand and pulled him close to her. She felt safer with his arms around her. “JD, be honest, how bad is it?” She said the words before she had decided if she really wanted the answer.

JD hesitated, “Honestly? It’s bad. Teenagers are… creative. But, hey, you’ll always have me.” That was nice to hear, but it didn’t improve Veronica’s mood much. She braced herself and turned on her phone. It started buzzing like a thing possessed.

_Blocked: Heeeeey Veronica, we’ll take you up on your offer_

_Blocked: Come rub your hands on me_

_Blocked: Fuck you whore_

_Blocked: Lol ur a slut_

Veronica dropped her phone with a yelp, as though it had burned her. JD picked it up and glanced at the screen. “I can figure out who these numbers are. They think they’re so smart blocking their numbers, but it’s one layer of simple coding. I peel that back and we’ll be able to get back at them! We can tell Fleming or the school board. They’ll be so worried about a law suit that everyone who said anything bad will be expelled!” JD’s eyes had taken on a manic quality.

Veronica stopped him, “That won’t help. Besides, I can’t even prove that those are fake. The last thing I want is for my parents to think I was sending sexy messages to Ram Fucking Sweeny. UGH!” Veronica groaned, then faceplanted into her bed, still trying not to cry.

JD sat down next to her and started rubbing her back in slow, soothing circles. She wished he wouldn’t. It was so much easier to cry when someone was being nice to you, and she still didn’t want to cry. She couldn’t stop herself. JD lay down next to her and pulled her close to him, allowing her to cry into his chest.

It happened gradually, but eventually they were kissing, and she forgot to cry. She pushed his coat off and dragged his shirt over his head. She needed to feel the warmth of his skin against hers. He kissed her back but he savored her, not allowing her to rush. He was all gentleness and softness and she felt like he was smoothing away the rough edges left by all the insults.

The kissing turned to something more as gradually as the crying had turned into kissing. He still kept the pace slow and stopped frequently, as if waiting for her to say she’d had enough. Eventually she did stop. “What’s wrong?”

He pressed his forehead into hers, “I just don’t want to be something you do when you’re upset then regret later. I love you, Veronica. I mean, I think I do. Fuck, I don’t know.” He kissed her again, possibly just to stop his mouth.

“Shh, JD it’s okay. I think I love you too. And I guess this happens because you’re who I want to be with when I’m upset. And we’re both horny teenagers, so this tends to happen.” She smiled a little and hoped she was lightening the mood. He smiled too, and they went back to kissing. She was happy to take it slow for him now that she knew why he needed it.

He pulled her shirt over her head and bent down to kiss the valley between her breasts. He was always so… reverent when he touched her. Even after everything that had happened tonight, JD made her feel valuable and _beautiful._

His lips travelled down her body and soon he was hovering over her center. He stopped to look at her, waiting for permission. She nodded, too breathless to speak. Soon she was feeling too much to think.

As her climax settled, she dragged him back up so she could kiss him. He pressed his forehead against hers as he slid inside her. The low moan he let out once he was fully sheathed inside her was unbelievable. She gasped and ran her fingers through his soft dark hair. It flopped back into his face immediately after. She ran her hands down his back, leaving small scratches. He picked up speed, still trying to hold onto a steady rhythm, but he was losing control. He whispered her name reverently. She could feel how close he was.

She bit his shoulder, and he came apart. It had been the same the first time they’d had sex. Like her, he liked a little bit of pain. They were lying down next to each other, still breathing pretty hard when she heard him whisper, “I worship you.” It was such an intense thing to say. She loved him even more because of it.

JD spoke up a while later, “So, I know you said you didn’t want to go to the school board or anything, but there are other ways to get back at someone. I mean, Heather, Kurt, and Ram deserve it.”

Veronica agreed with him, she was still angry for what they had done to her reputation. But still, “I don’t know JD, in movies these things have a way of backfiring.”

JD looked at her hard, with an expression she couldn’t decipher, “So, what if you could get back at them and there was no way for you to get caught?”

“Okay, then yeah I guess I would want them to feel a little bad too. Maybe.” He nodded and didn’t say anything else about it. She assumed it was just a hypothetical and fell asleep.

The next day at school went from bad to worse to literal fucking hell faster than she thought possible.

The very first thing that happened was Martha coming up to her in tears, demanding to know why Veronica had never told her that she liked Ram too. “You always tried to talk me out of it. I thought it was because you didn’t like him! You were just trying to keep him for yourself. How could you do this to me, Veronica?” She turned and ran away before Veronica had the chance to explain that it was all a cruel lie.

At lunch, JD picked a fight with Ram and Kurt, and Veronica had to step in before someone got seriously hurt. Throughout the day, people whispered “Slut” and “Whore” at her as she passed. She tried to ignore them, but the words cut like razors. JD was the only friend she had left, and he was so angry he was almost useless. He was still muttering about “getting back at the assholes” when the bell rang and they were finally able to leave.

The next morning, Kurt and Ram were dead.


	4. Suspicious

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little shorter than the others, but things are really building up to the grand finale! Thank you to those who have commented, I seriously thought about abandoning this project until I got those. Enjoy!

They said it was a suicide pact.

They said Kurt and Ram shot each other.

They said Kurt and Ram were gay.

Veronica didn’t believe what they said.

There was so much about it that didn’t add up, so much that couldn’t make sense with everything she knew about the jocks.

There was one real question that no one seemed to be asking. Why were bullies committing suicide?

Veronica didn’t know the answer. She felt vaguely uncomfortable though. All three of the recent suicides were people who had recently bullied her specifically. That couldn’t be a coincidence, right? But then, Heather, Kurt, and Ram had all victimized tons of people, so if it was actually murder the suspect list was long.

Veronica was torn from her dark thoughts by Martha cornering her just before Kurt and Ram’s double funeral. “Veronica, I need to talk to you. I’m still a little mad about everything with Ram, but this is more important. I think Kurt and Ram were murdered.” Veronica was thrilled that someone else felt the same way, but a little nervous that it was Martha. She could be a little fanciful sometimes.

“Okay. Um, why do you think that?” Veronica asked hesitantly.

“I know with all my heart and soul that Ram wasn’t gay.” She paused dramatically, “He kissed me. He wouldn’t have kissed me if he were gay.”

Veronica didn’t know what to say. It was hardly definitive proof, “Martha, you were in kindergarten. Things change, people change.”

“My heart knows the truth. You loved him too, do you believe he was gay?” Martha looked so desperate, but Veronica really had to clarify the issue.

“Martha, I didn’t love ram. I didn’t even like him. I thought he was barely tolerable on his best days. I don’t know if he was gay, and I don’t know what happened to him, but anything is possible, right?” Veronica wasn’t sure how Martha would take that, but she had to tell the truth.

“But… the texts—“

“The texts were fake. It was just part of a prank Heather Duke pulled on me. I never said any of that stuff.” Veronica saw the conflicting emotions on Martha’s face. Clearly she had wanted someone who would be as invested in finding Ram’s killer as she was, but she was also glad her friend had never betrayed her. “Martha, I’m not saying I think you’re wrong. Hell, I kind of think you might be right, but I don’t think there’s much we could do.” She paused and lowered her voice, noticing a guy looking over at them. “If the police said it was a suicide, then it probably was. Even if we think it’s unlikely.”

“See that’s the thing though. The world is crazy right now and teen suicide is pretty common, I think if it looks like a suicide the cops probably didn’t ask too many questions. I want to take this to the police and see what they think.” Martha was holding out a piece of paper.

Veronica took it and looked at it. It was a list of names. Martha said, “it’s a list of all the people that might have wanted to hurt Ram and Kurt—“

“Martha, JD is on this list.” Veronica stared at his name, in plain black type.

“Well, yeah. You saw him go after them in the cafeteria. They’ve been in two different fights. They definitely didn’t like each other.”

Veronica was starting to get angry, “Martha, JD thinks you’re his friend. He likes you, but apparently you think he’s some kind of crazy killer! I can’t believe you would want to take this to the police. Did you really like Ram so much that you would throw one of your friends—someone who actually liked you—under the bus to make yourself feel better? To convince yourself he might have really liked you? I’m sorry Martha, but Ram was an asshole, and he hasn’t liked you since he was six.” Veronica turned sharply and left, still fuming.

After the most unusual funeral Veronica had ever been to, she went over to JD’s house. “Wow,” She said to him, “I was not expecting that to turn into Sherwood’s first pride festival.”

JD laughed, “I know, how often can you say it’s a good day to live in Sherwood, Ohio?”

She rolled her eyes at him, “Hey! Sherwood isn’t that bad.” He gave her a look that suggested maybe it was, “There is no way this is the worst place you’ve lived.”

JD’s face turned to stone, “No, it isn’t.”

“Oh, sorry. I was just—“

“Yeah, I know. It’s fine.” JD still looked angry.

“Um, do you want to talk about it?” She asked hesitantly, not sure that she wanted to talk about it. She knew that JD’s life was messed up, but she often wondered if it was actually much worse than she realized.

He sighed, “It was Texas. I was eleven. Before that, we moved every couple of years, but not constantly like now. My mom always found it difficult. She never had anyone outside of our family, and my dad is… well, you met him.” Veronica nodded, she was pretty sure she understood. “I think it all became too much for her at some point. She walked into the library two minutes before my dad demolished it. She had enough time to get to a window and wave at me.”

Veronica breathed, “Holy shit.” What could she say to a story like that? God, with history like that it was a miracle JD wasn’t some kind of psycho killer.

“It’s okay. It was hard at first, but now thinking about her gives me clarity. There are unbearable people in the world, and it’s our job as decent people to fix that.”

What did he mean by ‘fix that’? Could he mean… No. Veronica couldn’t allow herself to even think about it. But… it almost made sense.

But it was impossible. JD was so nice to her. He loved her.

He loved her.

And three people who had been hurting her were dead. The gears in Veronica’s head had started down a path she didn’t want to take. But it answered some of the questions that had been lingering in her head since she heard about Kurt and Ram.

“JD…” She said cautiously, not entirely sure how she was going to do this, “what do you mean by ‘unbearable people’?” She asked.

“People like Heather Duke. People who make everyone else suffer. If she went away, people’s lives would get better. I still think we should get back at her. She deserves it.”

Shit. “I don’t want any part of that. I didn’t want to be a part of any of this.”

JD looked confused, “part of what?”

_Your crazy revenge fantasy._ She couldn’t speak the words out loud, so she said, “Us, any of this. I need to go.” She turned to leave but he grabbed her arm.

“Veronica, wait what are you doing? Can’t we talk about this?” She yanked her arm out of his grip.

“No, I just want to go home.” She left him standing there, pretending to be confused. She didn’t really think that breaking up with him would stop him, but she hoped it would.

She went home. Her room was quiet and her window was locked. She felt safe. She was scrolling through instagram when she saw it.

Heather McNamara had posted a picture of text.

_Westerburg,_

_I know this may be surprising, but I have been struggling with depression for a long time. The recent suicides have hurt me deeply. They were my close friends and I miss them. Sometimes I feel that Westerburg is not a nice place. We all lie to each other. Today, I had a panic attack on the bus, because I shouldn’t even be riding the bus but all the people who gave me rides to school are dead. If only we’d been nicer to each other. I feel like there isn’t even room for me anymore._

 

Heather Duke had posted a string of comments underneath it. They all boiled down to “well if your life is so hard why don’t you kill yourself?” Veronica panicked and grabbed her coat, dashing down the stairs and out the door.

Heather had posted that twenty minutes ago, and the comments were still pouring in, all of them as vitriolic as Heather’s. Heather McNamara wasn’t very strong. She nearly always did what the popular people told her to do. And the popular people were telling her to kill herself.

Her door wasn’t locked, so Veronica just walked right in. She ran up the stairs to Heather’s room. It was empty. She checked Heather’s bathroom and found her struggling with a prescription bottle.

Veronica dashed forward and smacked the bottle out of Heather’s hands. “NO!”

Heather looked up at her, alarmed. “Veronica, what are you doing here? This was supposed to be a private thing!”

“Heather, you cannot throw your life away to become another fucking statistic!”

“What about Heather? And Kurt and Ram?”

“They… they did the wrong thing. And besides, if everyone else jumped off a bridge, would you?”

Heather paused, “…probably.” Veronica almost laughed. It was pretty true.

“Veronica, Heather always told me what to do. She told me what to wear and who to talk to and what to say. Then she was just gone. And Heather tried to step up but she kept forgetting about me. She never told me what she wanted me to do but then she would get mad at me for not doing things. It was confusing. Then I posted that thing, I just wanted to make people start talking because my friends were dead and nobody cared. I thought maybe we would be nicer to each other if we understood what was going on with everyone. I was wrong.”

Veronica sighed; she had figured that Heather had never really been in control of her own life. “Heather, you don’t have to wait for them to tell you what to do. You can make your own choices.” Heather nodded, so Veronica continued, “Okay, so what do you want to do right now?”

Heather paused, thinking hard. Veronica wondered how long it had been since someone asked her what he wanted. Finally, Heather said, “I want to hang out with nice people and watch a movie with a happy ending. And eat pizza.” She looked at Veronica, as if waiting for approval.

Veronica smiled, “Okay, I’ll text Martha, we can go to her house. She’s really nice and she has lots of movies.” Heather nodded and stood up.

They made their way over to Martha’s house together. Martha was really nice about having Heather over. She really was the kindest person Veronica had ever met, even after everything the Heathers had done to her, she was still nice to McNamara, just because she needed a friend.

Heather was shy with Martha at first, until they got to her bedroom. Heather looked awestruck by the drawings around the room. She picked one up to look closer at it.

Veronica glanced at it; it was of a yellow dragon, asleep wrapped around a tree with purple leaves. Martha looked at Heather and said, “It’s based off of Drogon from _Game of Thrones_ , just a little happier.”

Heather beamed, “I like dragons.”

Martha smiled back at her and said, “You should keep it.”

After that, conversation was as easy as if they’d all been friends for years. They ended up watching _How to Train Your Dragon_ , which made Heather so happy Veronica thought she would cry. It was a fun night; they all consumed an entire pizza each, and several of Mrs. Dunnstock’s amazing cookies. But Veronica’s phone buzzed and ruined it all.

_Mom: Veronica come home now. We need to talk._

Veronica thanked Mrs. Dunnstock and left Heather with Martha, no longer worried that Heather would fall apart again.

When she got home, her parents were in full interrogation mode. “Hi, guys. What’s going on?”

“Your friend Jason Dean stopped by. He seemed very worried about you.” Her mother’s tone was tense.

Oh no, JD had come over here? Why?

“Worried about what?”

“He told us that you were very affected by the recent deaths, that he was worried you might be depressed or even considering suicide.” Oh god. Did this mean? Could he actually be thinking about killing her? She felt like the floor had dropped out from under her, and she was falling.

To her parents she said, “I don’t know why he would say that. I’m fine.” She just wanted them to leave her alone so she could go to her room and think.

“Alright Veronica, but remember you can talk to us about anything.”

“Yes Mom, I know. I’m just going to go to bed.”

She retreated up the stairs to her room where she began to pace.

It was smart of him to talk to her parents. It would make it more believable if she were to show up dead. She was still in shock. She was more certain now that JD was behind the ‘suicides’ and she was reeling. He had seemed so nice, maybe not totally normal, but definitely not a psychopath.

She felt like an idiot.

She felt guilty.

But most of all she felt obligated to stop him. Unfortunately, she had no real proof that he had done it, aside from all the suspicious shit he had said. It gave her a headache just to think about unraveling the mess she had gotten herself into. She fell asleep trying to work out a plan.

 


	5. Endless

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah I know nothing about computers and coding and this chapter discusses that a lot so please forgive my inaccuracies. I know this is the shortest chapter I've posted yet but I really wanted that cliff hanger. The next chapter is the entire reason I wrote this fic so please stay tuned! It will either be out tonight or tomorrow. Enjoy!

She woke up at five the next morning to a loud chime from her phone. Heather had texted her.

_HM: Come to the school. Bring Martha. I need help._

Shit.

Veronica had thought she could stop worrying about Heather after yesterday, but it seemed like she was still needed. She got dressed quickly, opting for practical jeans over her usual skirt or dress. Something told her she would want to be able to move around today.

She texted Martha, who offered to drive her to school so they could deal with whatever was happening with Heather. Veronica hopped into Martha’s car and they sped off to the school.

_VS: Heather where are you? We’re on our way_

_HM: The newspaper office_

Sneaking into the school was surprisingly easy. Apparently the door by the gym was broken and couldn’t be locked. They got to the office and found Heather standing over a laptop, cell phone, and a confusing mess of wires.

Veronica approached slowly, and looked at the phone screen.

_We the students of Westerburg High will die. Our burned bodies may finally get through to you. Your society churns out slaves and blanks. No thanks. Goodbye._

_-The students of Westerburg High_

“Heather, what the fuck is this?” Veronica asked.

“I don’t know, I broke in because I wanted to know what the last article Heather wrote was, because she told me it was going to be about how I’m a skank, but I found this instead. I didn’t know what to do so I called you.” Poor Heather looked terrified. Veronica felt terrified. The laptop had a mess of computer code on it that Veronica couldn’t decipher. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know what it meant.

Martha hadn’t said a word since reading the note. “What does it mean ‘our burned bodies’?” She asked, voice shaking. “I don’t want my body to be burned!”

Heather sniffled, about to cry, “But why didn’t they invite me to their suicide pact?” She was actually crying now. Veronica really didn’t know how to tackle that issue.

She was scared too, but she couldn’t show it. “I don’t know what it means. It’s definitely bad. Maybe if I knew what this code was about I could figure out what he’s—I mean, whoever this is—is up to.”

Martha looked at the screen, “I don’t really know anything about computer coding.” Veronica didn’t say that JD would know what it meant, she wasn’t sure that he hadn’t written it.

Surprisingly, Heather piped up, “Heather knows about computers!”

“What?” Veronica and Martha said at the same time.

“Yeah, she’s super good with computers. She designed her parents’ website and she fixed Heather’s computer one time when she downloaded something bad from the Internet.” Heather looked pleased to have added something.

“Heather Duke would be able to read this?” Veronica asked.

“Yeah, definitely!” Heather confirmed.

“Okay, call her. Don’t tell her we’re here or she won’t come.” Heather nodded and dialed Heather’s number.

Veronica paced the whole time they were waiting for her to get there. It took forever. Heather had probably decided to shower and put on make-up before going out, not realizing the urgency of the situation.

When she finally showed up, she sneered at Veronica and Martha, “Ugh! Heather what are these two losers doing here?”

Heather gritted her teeth, “I called them when I found this stuff. It’s really freaky.”

Heather sighed, “You said there was a computer problem? Something that couldn’t wait until school actually started?”

Veronica decided to take charge. She wasn’t sure Heather would be able to explain it well and Martha looked like she was going to be sick. “It’s this laptop, and this phone. We don’t know what the code here means, but we think it has something to do with the note. Can you figure out what it is?”

Heather glanced at the phone but didn’t seem to read the message. Then she went to the computer. She was looking closely at the text.

“Hmm, I’m not sure. I’ll need some time to read through the whole thing.”

Veronica felt a headache pressing at her temples. “Heather I don’t know that we have time. Is there anything you can tell us now?”  
Heather shook her head, “Sorry, unless I go through the whole thing, I’m just guessing. Why is this so important?”

Veronica didn’t answer; she just showed her the note. Heather read through it once, looked at Veronica then read it again. “What the fuck? Veronica is this some kind of sick joke? Look I know the text thing wasn’t cool, I’m sorry. But this is really extreme.” Heather looked scared and Veronica didn’t blame her.

“No Heather, it’s not a joke. I wish it was. Just get that code figured out.” Veronica really hoped that Heather would respond to the seriousness of her tone. Heather nodded and took the laptop with her as she left.

“And Heather?” Veronica said, Heather turned. “I appreciate the apology.” And she did. It was nice to know that she was at least aware of how hurtful the texts had been.

Veronica often thought that she was living through the worst school day of her life, but none of the others compared to today. She was jittery and anxious all day. She avoided JD and ducked around corners and into bathrooms whenever she saw him. He didn’t seem angry though. She thought he looked sad more than anything. He had headphones in and appeared to be trying to avoid everyone else in the world. Was that how someone with an evil plan acted? Shouldn’t he be nervous or acting crazy? She was very tempted to corner him in an empty classroom and demand to know what he was planning.

She decided not to because she still had no proof it was him. When Heather finished looking over the laptop she would know for sure, but right now she had nothing. She saw him sneak out the front door before fourth period started.

She didn’t go to lunch, choosing to sit in the bathroom for the whole hour instead. It was the first time she allowed herself to cry since finding the note. She wished she could go to JD. He was so good at making her feel better about herself and calming her down when she was nervous. And she had never been nervous like this before. The note on the phone had made it seem like this was a matter of life and death, and she had gotten caught up in the middle of it.

Heather, Heather, and Martha burst into the bathroom, calling her name.

“I’m in here guys,” Veronica called from her seat in the disabled stall. She unlocked the door and all three girls filed in.

Heather Duke took a deep breath, “I think I figured it out.”

Veronica waited for her to go on but she didn’t.

Martha was less patient, “Heather? What did you find?”

Heather took a deep breath, “At first all I could figure out is that it’s on a timer. I’m used to web design coding but this is program coding, which is a little different. I found the countdown pretty quickly; I know how to set those up so I knew how to spot it. From what I can tell, it’s set to go off during the pep rally this afternoon.”

“Oh no!” Heather McNamara said, “I have a big solo in the dance routine, this could ruin it.”

Veronica rolled her eyes but didn’t say anything to her about misplaced priorities. It wasn’t worth freaking her out. “Heather, what else did you find?”

Heather’s mouth twisted, “I know whoever did this is crazy good. Every aspect of this code was done by hand, and his security is top notch. We can only read this because he doesn’t care if we do. Also, this phone is on lockdown.”

Veronica buried her face in her hands, “What does that mean?”

“It means it’s stuck. No matter what I try, this message won’t go away. The thing won’t even turn off. If I had to guess, I would say that someone attached a virus to the message so that the recipient can’t close it. Again, if this guy wasn’t evil, I’d be really impressed with him.”

Martha finally chipped into the conversation, “So this person wants someone to read the message on the phone? And something is going to happen during the pep rally that’s going to burn our bodies?”

It hit Veronica like a ton of bricks. “A bomb.” She barely whispered it, but the others all looked at her. “A bomb.” She said a little louder, trying to make the word sink in. “Someone is going to set off a bomb in the school, and they’re going to make it look like a mass suicide.” She felt sick. They should go to the police. They should evacuate the school. They should run away and never look back. Veronica was frozen where she was.

Martha and Heather McNamara were both crying and hugging each other. They didn’t seem capable of coherent thought either. Heather Duke was staring at her, open-mouthed. They were frozen in that odd little tableau for a while until the bell startled them into motion.

They all stood up at once and headed to the door. Martha and Heather McNamara left, and headed in the direction of English class. Even knowing what they knew, they were trying to act normal. Heather Duke stopped her before she could leave.

“One last thing, part of the code is some kind of messaging system with an attached folder. It looks like it’s meant to send a file to every phone number in that folder. Some kind of fancy mass-messaging operation, I’ve never seen it before, but that’s what I would guess it does.” Mass-messaging?

JD.

That’s what he had been working on. Now she had her proof, and she could put a stop to this whole thing.

“Heather, text Heather and Martha. I know who did this, and we can stop them. I’m going to need a ride though”

Heather nodded, “Okay I’ll get my jeep. Where are we going?”

Veronica set her jaw and took a deep breath.

“My boyfriend’s house.”


	6. Innocence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Three in the morning and I'm still awake posting fanfiction. This chapter is literally the entire reason I wanted to write this fic. Check back in later for the next part which may or may not be the last I haven't decided yet. Enjoy!

They made a quick stop at Veronica’s house before they pulled up in front of JD’s house. Veronica was relieved to see that his bike was parked out front. He was home.

She didn’t knock. She walked directly upstairs to his room, stepping carefully to avoid making sound. She pushed his door open, raising the croquet mallet she’d brought from home just in case.

He was sitting at his computer, headphones on. She continued sneaking up on him until he abruptly turned around and stood up.

“Veronica, what the hell?” She dropped the mallet. It hit the floor with a clatter and she just stared at it. Suddenly feeling rather awkward.

Her purpose in his room came back to her suddenly. “JD we know what you’re going to do, and we won’t let it happen so tell us where the bomb is and how to turn it off!” She was proud that her voice only shook a little when she said it.

JD gaped at her. “Bomb? What bomb? Veronica what are you talking about?” She hadn’t thought he would play dumb. He seemed like the type of person who would gloat about his accomplishments.

“JD, I know that you killed Heather and Kurt and Ram. I found your computer in the newspaper room and we’ve seen the message. It’s over JD so just tell me how to stop it.” Now that she was getting angry, she felt more confident.

“Killed… Veronica, what the fuck?” JD looked a little angry too, but mostly he looked bewildered. “And what do you mean you found my computer? My computer is right there,” He pointed at his desk. Right.

Veronica was losing steam, “So, um, you aren’t planning to blow up the school during the pep rally?” She asked.

JD closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, “What, so just because I wear a trench coat I must be a school shooter? Some columbine wannabe asshole? Is that actually what you think of me, Veronica?”

“It’s not just that! I mean you kept talking about revenge and getting back at people and how awful society is. Then with all the deaths, plus the fact that he’s planting bombs which you have access to… It really seemed to make sense okay?” She was struggling to find ground to stand on in this argument, “And they used your mass-text system!”

That actually made him pause. “My what?”

Veronica was relieved, finally something she actually knew for sure. “Yeah, the computer we found was hooked up to a phone. There was a bunch of code and Heather told us it was for some kind of mass-text system, just like the one you told me you were working on.”

JD looked less angry and more thoughtful now, “I need to see that code. Not that I don’t trust Heather’s judgment, but I don’t trust Heather’s judgment.”  

Veronica nodded, “They’re waiting in the car outside. They have the computer and the phone with the note.”

“Who’s they?” JD asked.

“Um, Heather, Heather, and Martha. We kind of had to team up on this one. Heather found the stuff, and called me and Martha, but then we needed to go get Heather because she was the only person we knew who was good at coding.”

The anger was back in JD’s eyes, “Besides me. You really would have rather had Heather Duke help you than me? After everything with us? After what she did to you?”

Veronica sighed, “JD, I’m really sorry. But you can’t act like this is all me. You seemed so angry at the world, and you were always talking about revenge!”

“I WAS TALKING ABOUT PUTTING LAXITIVES IN HEATHER DUKE’S STARBUCKS!” JD’s temper had apparently snapped.

Veronica heard Martha laughing from the car, and had to supress a smile. That actually would have been pretty funny.

Heather did not think so, “So I guess we’re friends with Jesse James again?” She sneered but didn’t protest when he took the laptop from her. He opened it, and read over the code. After a while, he looked up.

“Fuck.”

Veronica winced, she was hoping he would say that it was all a fake, that they could go home. “What is it, JD?”

“Well, first of all, this guy is good. Really good. His messaging system isn’t totally streamlined, but the way he has it set up it doesn’t really have to be. He won’t even need to be there to hit send, once the timer goes off, this message will be on every Westerburg student’s phone. I think you’re right, it’s meant to be his note. Get me back to the school so I can try to hack into it and shut it down. He might stop this whole thing if he thinks his message won’t get out.”

Veronica nodded. “We also need a backup plan. We need to figure out where he’s putting the bombs so that we can get rid of them before anyone gets hurt.”

Heather McNamara spoke up, “Well probably the gym, right? If he wants to get the most people and he’s doing it at the pep rally, that’s the place. The whole school will be in there.” She clung to the yellow croquet mallet she had insisted on taking with her. Veronica still had hers too, but she hoped they wouldn’t need them.

JD looked up from the screen, “If he wants to hit the gym he’ll probably want to have a trigger bomb in the basement and some smaller thermals in the actual gym.” Everyone turned to stare at him, “Hey, this is what my dad does for a living. On my twelfth birthday he taught me how to rig up a Norwegian. Just because I don’t _want_ to blow up the school doesn’t mean I don’t know _how_ to.”

Veronica nodded, “Okay, so when we get to the school, JD, you and Heather find somewhere to work on hacking his computer.” She said, pointing to Heather Duke. “Martha, you and Heather go to the gym and get everyone out.” Martha and Heather McNamara both nodded. “I’m going to the basement to try to get rid of the trigger bomb.”

“What, no!” JD cried, “Veronica, you don’t know how to diffuse a bomb, and if you do something wrong, you’ll be killed.” It touched her a little that he was still worried about her, even after she had basically called him a psychopathic murderer. “Just give me a few minutes to try to stop his message. Then… I’ll go with you. For backup.”

She wanted to cry, and promised herself that she would let all her tears out later, instead she just said, “Thank you.”

The school was buzzing with eager students when they got there. They marched right through the office, Heather and Veronica still armed with mallets, and didn’t stop walking even when the receptionist demanded to see their absence notes.

They walked down the hallways like they owned them. Something about thinking she was about to die made all of Veronica’s insecurities fall away, leaving an iron-hard center behind. The others seemed to feel the same way because they all walked with more confidence than she had seen in them before. The crowds parted for them.

At the end of the hallway, they split up, each to prepare for their separate jobs. Veronica went with Duke and JD, still somewhat hopeful that they could stop this before it started.

But the pep rally drew nearer and nearer and JD didn’t seem to be making any progress.

Finally, he dropped his head to the desk and said, “I can’t do it. His security is too good.” He looked at Veronica, “Just get out of here, okay? I can go find him myself. Take Heather and evacuate with the others.”

Veronica shook her head, “No. I’m going with you. You might need me. Heather,” She turned to her unlikely ally, “you should go though.”

Heather didn’t move, “You guys take care of the evil genius. I’ll stay and keep working on this. Maybe I can find a way in.” Veronica didn’t know what to say in the face of such an unlikely sacrifice, so she just nodded and picked up her blue mallet.

She looked at JD, “Ready?” He clenched his jaw and nodded.

The basement was dark and it smelled damp. JD insisted on walking in front, still trying to protect her. Eventually, the came up to the boiler and she could make out a figure crouching beside it. She spoke up first, while JD ducked behind some buckets that were stacked on a table. “Step away from the bomb!” If her voice hadn’t been so shrill she thought it would have sounded like something the TV cops would say.

The kid stood up, “Oh yeah, why should I?”

“Because I caught you. It’s over so just step away from the bomb and tell me how to shut it off. No one deserves to die.”

“Bullshit they don’t! They all deserve to die. Heather deserved to die, Kurt and Ram deserved to die. This whole goddamn school deserves to die. And when the world looks at the ashes of Westerburg they’ll say to themselves ‘Here’s a school that imploded not because of society, but because it was soc—“ Veronica ran at him with her mallet, unable to stand more of his ravings.

He ducked out of the way and she nearly toppled over from the force of her momentum. “They all deserved to die. They didn’t know me. They couldn’t even see me. Do you even know my name, Veronica Sawyer?” Veronica stared at him. She did know him. He was a quiet kid. He was in the newspaper club.

“Um, Peter?” She was pretty sure that was it.

She was wrong.

With an outraged cry of “I’m PAUL!” He raised a gun and pointed it at her head. Her knees went weak and she thought she would collapse.

JD burst out from next to the boiler and tackled him. They toppled and were rolling around, fighting for control of the gun. From where she was standing she couldn’t tell who was winning.

BANG

The shot rang out and she dashed forward. JD was clutching his stomach. He’d been shot. _No, God please not JD. Please let him be okay._ Veronica whispered prayers as she walked closer. She touched his shoulder and he turned to her, pulling his hand away from his stomach.

There was no blood.

It took her a moment to accept it, but once her brain realized that he hadn’t been hurt, she wrapped her arms around him. He pushed her off, gently. He knelt beside Paul and checked his pulse.

“He’s alive. I think he may have passed out though.”

Veronica nodded and looked over at the bomb. The timer was still ticking down. It wasn’t much time. “JD, can you stop it?”

He looked at the blinking red numbers and sighed, “No. I looked at it but I think anything I do could set it off. Do you think Heather and Martha had enough time?”

Veronica sent up another quick prayer to a God she hoped existed. “Yes. They had to.” She pulled out her phone and sent a message to Heather Duke.

_VS: Get out we can’t stop it. Run to the football field._

JD was hoisting Paul’s arm around his shoulders so that he was in a standing position. “Go, Veronica. I have to try to get him out of here but it’ll slow me down. You can run. You’ll make it.”

Veronica didn’t move. “I’ll help you. We’ll move faster together.” She tried to go to Paul’s other side but JD stopped her.

“Veronica, I meant everything I said. I love you. I won’t let you die if I can save you, and I won’t leave him here when he can be saved. Please, run.” His pleading eyes nearly convinced her, but she didn’t want him to die for her. She wanted him to have a life with her.

She took her place on Paul’s other side and draped his arm across her shoulders, then she started to walk.

Getting him up the stairs was hard, but once they’d made it to the hallways they were moving at a good speed. They didn’t slow for anything. They were still running towards the football field when the building blew.

It was the most terrifying and disorienting moment of Veronica’s life. Even worse than the first day of high school. There was smoke and clouds of dust everywhere and it was so hot. She was flung forward and she lost hold of Paul. She pulled herself to her feet on a knee that was screaming in pain.

She pushed through the smoke, trying to breathe enough to call JD’s name. He had to be okay. She had to find him.

She tripped over him, then fell on top of him. She was so relieved that she didn’t think to move, despite the continuing pain in her leg. He held her against him as the dust and smoke began to clear. He only moved slightly, positioning himself to block her from any debris that might still be falling. Her eyes burned too much to open them. She just clung to him and waited for it to be over.

At some point, the dust was settled enough that people began to approach them. They pulled JD away from her but she clung to him. Her ears were ringing and she couldn’t hear what they were saying to her. All she knew was that they were pulling him away and she wouldn’t let them. He pried her hands open and kissed her scraped knuckles. That finally made her let go.

They were taken to the hospital in separate ambulances. Her knee needed stitches, and she had a couple of other minor bruises and scrapes. Her eyes were fine once they had been washed out, and the nurse told her that her ears would stop ringing in a couple days. They gave her some pills to take and she drifted off.

When she woke up her parents were sitting beside her bed. They both hugged her. Apparently the whole town thought they were heroes. They had saved a school full of people just in time. She drifted off thinking that JD would like being called a hero.

When she finally woke up for real, she asked the nurse about Paul. She smiled kindly, “He’s going to live, but he definitely won’t be returning to school.” Veronica thought that this was a very obvious thing to say. No one would be returning to school. It blew up.

She found out that JD, Paul, and her were the only ones to receive serious injuries. She also found out where JD’s room was. He had broken his arm when he hit the ground, and he had a bad concussion, so he was still confined to his bed. She carefully pulled a pair of sweatpants over her swollen knee and limped to his room. She watched his dad leave and slipped in before the door swung shut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stay tuned for Veronica and JD finally talking about their problems!


	7. Moving

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought this was beginning to wrap up, but then another little plot thing happened so it's going to continue. Despite the fact that this has not been very popular, I'm really proud of my work and those of you who have been supportive are amazing. Enjoy!

 

He was awake, and he smiled just a little when he saw her. “Veronica, what are you doing in my room?” She laughed.

“I wanted to see how you were.” He looked like hell. His face was scraped up and he had a cut above his eyebrow that looked like it would scar. He still had dirt and soot smeared across his handsome face. He hadn’t been allowed to shower either, apparently.

He groaned a little, “I’m definitely alive. I feel like I got hit by a train.”

She nodded, knowing the feeling. She hobbled over and sat next to him on the bed. Her knee still hurt if she tried to stand up too long.

“What about you?” He asked.

She shrugged, trying to downplay her situation. “I needed a couple stiches and my ears are still ringing, other than that I’m fine.”

He nodded, face serious, “You shouldn’t have stayed Veronica. You didn’t need to be hurt at all.”

She couldn’t help rolling her eyes, “I appreciate that you wanted to save me, but if I had left you there you wouldn’t have made it. Can’t you just thank me?”

The corner of his mouth lifted into the smallest smile, “Thank you, Veronica Sawyer.” He lifted her hand up so he could kiss it. She gently pushed his hair away from his eyes, running her fingers through it softly. He closed his eyes and leaned into her touch.

She took a deep breath, “I also wanted to apologize. I broke up with you because I thought you wanted to kill Heather, and then I accused you of trying to blow up the school. I should have known how crazy and stupid that was.”

He smiled wryly, “I thought you were breaking up with me because we were moving too fast.”

“There’s more that I should apologize for. I thought you were going to kill me.”

His jaw dropped, “What? Why?”

Veronica wasn’t sure if there was any way to save face after all the stupid shit she’d convinced herself of, “You talked to my parents about me being depressed. I thought it was a setup for another faked suicide.”

He nodded slowly, processing this. “I talked to your parents because pushing your friends away is a sign that someone is depressed or thinking about suicide. I knew you were grieving Heather and you’ve been really stressed lately. I got worried so I told your parents to be on the lookout for other signs.”

That was actually a really caring thing for him to have done. She felt herself tearing up a little bit. “You want to know what the craziest part of all this is?” She asked.

JD raised his eyebrows at her, “I really don’t think this could get any crazier, you know we almost got blown up earlier, right?”

She laughed, but plowed on into the worst part of it all, “Even when I though you were a crazy serial killer, I was still in love with you.”

He was speechless for the second time in a conversation, which was probably a record. Eventually he found his words, “I think that makes you crazy too.”

She nodded, “It definitely does.”

He shook his head, but he was smiling fondly. “I love you.” He became serious again, “And about what happened in the boiler room; I would have died to keep you safe down there. I was so terrified that he was going to hurt you. Dammit Veronica, he had a gun!”

Without her knowledge or permission, tears had started leaking from her eyes. “I thought you’d been shot. When the gun went off and you were holding your stomach, I thought…” She couldn’t even finish the sentence as the crushing weight of what she had been through finally hit her.

The reaction was stronger for having been delayed. Tears were still falling, and she was gasping for breath as a steel fist grasped her lungs. Her stomach turned over and she thought she might vomit. She was shaking so hard she thought she would break into pieces.

JD wrapped his arms around her. He held her together. She buried her face in his chest, whimpering, “You almost died, I almost died. Oh my God.”

He rubbed her back, just like he had two days ago. The rhythm of his heartbeat settled her a little, and her breathing became more normal. She was crying normally now. JD tilted her head up so he could look at her face.

“It’s going to be okay, Veronica,” He said softly, “It’s over now and you’ll be fine.” She appreciated that he said that she _would be_ fine, because she certainly wasn’t fine yet. He kissed her gently and she kissed him back. He felt like the only solid thing in a world made out of Jello.

The door creaked open, “Well would you look at that!” JD’s dad whistled from the doorway. Veronica didn’t turn around; instead she chose to hide her face in JD’s chest. From this position, she could feel him tense.

“Dad, we nearly died in an explosion. Leave. Us. Alone.” He said through gritted teeth. She heard Mr. Dean back out the door, and heard its hinges creak shut.

JD was breathing hard. “I’ve never talked to him like that before. I can’t believe I said that.” Veronica kissed him to pull his attention back.

“I guess something about surviving an explosion puts things in perspective. It’s hard to be scared of someone when you’ve done what we did.” Veronica wasn’t sure that what she said made sense, but JD nodded.

“You know what he told me when I first woke up?” He asked. Veronica said nothing and waited for the answer. “He said, ‘your mom would be proud of you’. That’s the first time he’s mentioned her since she died.”

Veronica placed her hand on his cheek and smiled softly, “He’s right. You did something incredible.”

“We did.” He insisted, and she didn’t argue.

They sat like that until the door opened again. This time, two Heathers and a Martha trooped in, all completely unharmed. Martha spoke first, “See guys, I told you she’d be in here!”

Heather Duke rolled her eyes, “I can’t believe they got back together. She literally accused him of trying to blow up the school. She really thought he was a psycho.”

Heather McNamara laughed, “Yeah, but this is Veronica, she saw him punching people in the caf and immediately thought ‘boyfriend material’.”

Martha broke into the conversation before Veronica could retort, “Everyone is calling you guys heroes.”

Duke rolled her eyes, “She’s being modest; they’re calling all of us heroes. That Paul kid confessed to everything, he’s probably going to prison for three murders and a hell of a lot of property damage.”

Veronica had been wondering about that, “So the school is gone?”

Martha nodded, “The parts that are furthest from the gym might be salvageable, but everything got damaged pretty badly. They’re talking about a full renovation, it’s going to be a big deal.”

JD asked the practical question, “So what will they do about teaching us?”

Heather McNamara laughed, “Well they’re giving us next week off so they can figure it out. We’ll probably have trailer classrooms for a while, and some kids may have to go to Washington or Jefferson.”

Veronica’s stomach dropped, “They’re going to split us up?”

Duke scoffed, “Not us. We’re the Heroes of Westerburg. They need us together for publicity purposes.”

JD looked skeptical, “Are they actually calling us that?”

They were. News crews were clamoring to get an interview with any of the teenagers involved with saving the school but especially those they called the “final three”. Heather Duke, JD, and Veronica had been the last ones out of the building, which apparently made them the most heroic, rather than the most stubborn.

When they were released from the hospital, all the news crews were assembled outside, asking for a statement. JD passed them with his head down; he didn’t like the attention. Veronica, however, had something to say.

She faced the cameras and microphones, but she looked out above them, making eye contact with JD who had stopped to watch her. “What happened at Westerburg could have been a huge tragedy. And I am profoundly relieved that there were no casualties,” She stopped for a breath and JD nodded encouragingly at her. “But what happened here could have happened anywhere. I don’t want the message that’s taken from this event to be that ‘teens can be heroes too’. The message is that teens can be villains too. We can be cruel to each other, and that creates even more cruelty and vengeance and violence. So I want to put a stop to it. We, the students of Westerburg High are done with acting evil. We will put down our weapons and learn to be kind to each other. The school that will be built where Westerburg High once was will be beautiful and full of beautiful people.” She nodded decisively and stepped down, parting the crowd as she walked. She kissed JD goodbye and climbed into her parents’ car, ready to go home.

Veronica’s big speech went viral. High schoolers everywhere were responding to her message of tolerance and kindness. It was a pretty amazing feeling. But Veronica found other, simpler things much better. Like her lunch table.

After they got back to school— a collection of classroom trailers set up around a large party tent that served as the cafeteria and gym—the so called Heroes of Westerburg began sitting together at lunch. One day Heather Duke brought a guy from the football team who had been friends with Kurt. After that, they all brought people in, and they had a constantly cycling group of people who sat with them on any given day. Though Heather Duke and Heather McNamara were close friends, there were no more Heathers.

Explosions did a lot to cut through bullshit.

The name “heroes of Westerburg” stuck enough that they finally gave in and named their group chat “HoW”. When they hung out with just the five of them, they called it a HoW meeting. They school thought it meant that they had embraced their celebrity status, but the group members mostly joked about it being a reflection of their bafflement about their own success. “How did we survive”, “How do we fix Westerburg’s bullying problem”, “How do you do calculus”. It was the perfect name for them.

Martha took it upon herself to make the drab trailers more fun, and she began bringing her paintings to school to hang on the walls. Soon other students were contributing too. Veronica printed off a picture of the five of them that she had been tinkering with and hung it on the wall of their English classroom.

Everything was fine until the night JD snuck into her bedroom, crying. “We’re moving,” He said without preamble, “Dad doesn’t like the media attention so he wants to get out of Ohio.”

Veronica wanted to cry too, but she held it in so that she could think. “You can’t leave,” She determined, “So we just have to find a way for you to stay here.”

“Veronica, it isn’t that simple.”

Veronica grabbed him to keep him from pacing. “I didn’t say it was simple, but we have to do it. I’m not letting you go yet.” She smiled up at him and his anxious eyes softened a little. She kissed him then grabbed her phone.

_VS: I’m calling and emergency HoW meeting. Come to my house now, bring snacks_

Twenty minutes later, they were all gathered in her bedroom drinking the slushies Heather McNamara had brought.

Veronica took a deep breath— she was the unofficial leader of HoW, and usually led the meetings. “Okay, I called this emergency meeting because someone is trying to take one of our own away—“

“Cut the bullshit, Sawyer,” Duke butted in, “Just tell us why we’re here, and why your parents are so fine with letting us into your house at eleven on a school night.”

Veronica rolled her eyes at JD who smiled sympathetically, “JD’s dad is making him move.”

“What? No!” Heather McNamara cried, “He can’t split us up!” Heather was easily distressed, and she disliked change. They would all be deeply affected if JD moved away, but Heather would probably lose a lot of the progress she had made with her therapy. Veronica could tell JD was thinking the same thing; he looked guilty.

Martha patted JD on the shoulder sympathetically. She and JD had become close, and she helped him open up a softer side. Veronica thought he acted like a protective big brother with her. Martha would be losing one of her dearest friends and most supportive fans (JD’s bedroom boasted several of Martha’s paintings).

Heather Duke was clearly only acting like she didn’t care. She and JD worked on code together sometimes and they had gotten close. Veronica knew he was the only person Heather trusted to look over her work and check it for bugs. She would be just as devastated without him as the others.

“Well, we can’t let him.” Duke’s determined tone surprised everyone. “It’s a bad idea to move again during your senior year. We just have to find a way for you to stay at Westerburg until graduation.” Heather was great at making things sound simple.

JD sighed, “I know you guys don’t really know my dad but he’s basically psychotic. I can’t just ask him for things. I think knowing that I’m happy here is part of the reason he wants to go.” Veronica put her head on his shoulder, hoping it would offer some comfort.

“Your dad is a dick.” Heather Duke said.

“We could kill him.” Heather McNamara said and everyone turned to look at her.

She shrugged, “No one would ever suspect us, and then someone in town could foster him until he’s eighteen.”

“We aren’t going to kill my dad, Heather.” JD said flatly.

Martha seemed to decide that it was her turn to offer a suggestion, “What if we forged a note from the school, saying that JD has to stay?”

JD shook his head, “My dad doesn’t like being told what to do, if he got that note we’d be gone the next day.”

Veronica was racking her brains for some way to keep JD around, until it finally hit her, “What if you just… didn’t go?” JD stared at her. “Look, you say your dad doesn’t care that much, what if you just weren’t there on the day you’re supposed to leave?”

JD’s eyebrows had disappeared into the hair on his forehead. “Where would I live?”

Heather Duke rolled her eyes, “With us, stupid. We all have at least one extra room, Heather has like five. Any one of our parents could be convinced to let you live with them.”

JD still looked very skeptical, “He could call the cops. They could force me to leave with him.”

Heather Duke looked angry, but not at anyone in the room.   “We saved literally hundreds of lives, this town owes us. I think it’s time we asked them to pay up.”


	8. Stay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHHH I'm almost done with my second full length fic! I'm so excited and though I'm disappointed about the reception of this I'm still really proud of my work. Of course now that I'm finishing this I want to turn it into a series, but I have to finish at least one Witness story first. This is the last official chapter, the next one will be a shorter epilogue to tie off the last of the loose ends. Enjoy!

The plan was fairly simple. They had all said some variation on “it’ll be easier than the time we saved everyone in school!” but Veronica, at least, was just as nervous as she had been on that day.

They were holed up in Veronica’s house, which was the second place JD’s father would look for him. They had already been to the first to get slushies. This was pretty much the entirety of their solution, unless JD’s dad went crazy. The four of them were all anxious but pretending to feel normal for JD’s sake. Veronica could tell he was a basket of nerves and she felt bad.

He had packed his things and taken them with him to her house. He had one suitcase and one box. It was depressing to see everything he owned stacked neatly in a corner of her bedroom.

“So, how much time do you think we have?” Martha asked.

“Enough for a game of cards against humanity.” Heather Duke replied.

Veronica groaned, “Heather, I don’t think I’m in the mood for games.”

“Chill Veronica, this isn’t for you. Your boy toy clearly needs something to take his mind off all this.”

Veronica looked at JD, “What do you want to do?”

He shrugged, “It can’t hurt.”

The game was as thoroughly irreverent as it could be. To everyone’s shock, Martha destroyed everyone. Veronica lost badly and claimed that Heather Duke was cheating somehow. She thought JD looked at least a little distracted, and he even laughed a couple times, much to her relief. Now that it was over though, he seemed withdrawn and sad.

Veronica turned to the others and said, “Hey guys, can you give us a minute?”

They grumbled, but filed obediently out the door, leaving her alone with her boyfriend. “What’s going on? What are you feeling?” It was a question both of their therapists had asked them on multiple occasions. She had found that it was a very effective way to start a conversation.

“I’m scared. And I’m angry. And I’m sad.” She nodded and encouraged him to go on, “It feels like my dad doesn’t want me to be happy, and that makes me sad and angry. I also don’t really think this is going to work.”

“What? Then why are you going along with it?”

“Because you wanted it. I don’t want to give up without trying but you don’t know my dad. If he wants something, he gets it and in a few minutes he’s going to be here and he’s going to want me. I won’t risk you or Martha, or Heather, or Heather… well, maybe Heather. It’s just not worth it.”

“I think it’s worth it.” Veronica said stubbornly, “JD you finally have a stable life, you finally started to be a normal teenager and I won’t let you throw that away. You need to stay here. Come on, don’t you want a life with me?”

He pulled her into a crushing hug, “Yes, Veronica. I’ve wanted that from the moment I met you. I love you.”

“I love you too, so I need you to fight for me. For all of us. And for the life you’ve built in Sherwood. No matter what happens when your dad shows up, we have your back and we won’t give up on you.” She reached up to kiss him and he responded eagerly. Despite her speech, they were both thinking it could be their last kiss.

They were still locked together and oblivious to the world when Heather McNamara pushed the door open. “Um, excuse me,” they broke apart and turned to her, “Guys, it’s time.” Wordlessly, they turned and followed her downstairs.

Veronica’s mom answered the door when Bud Dean pounded on it. “Oh, hello! You must be Jason’s father; I’m Joyce Sawyer. My daughter is seeing your son.” Veronica’s mom was following her part exactly and acting like she didn’t know why he was here.

“She won’t be seeing him for long. I’ve come to get him. We’re leaving town.” Bud’s gruff voice was clearly audible from where they stood in the living room. Veronica looked at JD and saw him gulp.

“Oh really? I thought you’d only just gotten here. Well Veronica and her friends will be devastated. He’s very close to all of them you know. And the whole town loves him for what he did at the school.”

Veronica heard Bud grunt something about finding work out of town. So far, so good.

“Well JD is in the living room with the other heroes, come on in I’ll show you.”

Veronica took JD’s hand, and with both Heathers and Martha flanking them, they turned to face JD’s dad.

If he was surprised to see five stony-faced teenagers waiting for him, Veronica didn’t see any sign of it. JD tightened his grip on her hand but his face didn’t change.

“Dad, I’m not going.” She was so proud of how strong he sounded.

“What the hell are you talking about?” JD’s dad looked irritated, but not enraged.

“I don’t want to leave Sherwood. This is where my friends are. I want to graduate from Westerburg and go to college. I’ve decided to stay.”

Bud’s eyebrows went up, “Oh you have, have you? Well I’m afraid that isn’t really up to you.”

“Actually,” JD said, “I really think it is. This is the first place I’ve lived that actually feels like home and I’m not going to give that up to follow you to some stupid town where I don’t know anyone.” Veronica could tell he was getting close to losing his temper, and Bud looked to be on the same page. She gave JD’s hand a gentle squeeze, a reminder to stay calm.

“Do you think I won’t drag you out of here and force you into that car?”

Heather McNamara stepped forward, “You’ll have to go through us.”

Bud didn’t seem especially intimidated by the petite blond girl’s glare. Veronica knew her a little better, and almost felt like she should warn the old man about how powerful a cheerleader’s kicks were.

“Your little friends are cute,” Bud said, “But this isn’t their business. Tell them to leave.”

“I’d rather if they didn’t.” Veronica was relieved. She hadn’t really thought JD would send them out but she wasn’t sure. It was nice to know that he wanted them with him.

“Fine, whatever. Look, you can’t stay no matter how much you want to. I sold the house. You’d have nowhere to live.”

Now it was Heather Duke’s turn. “Actually Mr. Dean, my parents have offered him one of our guest rooms. They’d be quite proud to have two of the Heroes of Westerburg under their roof.” This had been a topic of much debate, but Heather’s parents had settled it. Their enthusiasm about having another teenaged computer genius living with them was infectious, and they had barreled headfirst into setting up his bedroom. Whether he liked it or not, JD had been unofficially adopted by the Duke family.

Apparently housing had been the ace in Bud’s sleeve because that made him pause. “What about food, clothes, other stuff you need?”

Heather crossed her arms, in full mega-bitch mode, “It’s all taken care of.”

JD interceded before things got heated between the two, “Look, Dad, this is really the best option for both of us right now. You can get your work done and I can focus on high school and college applications. You know where I’ll be so you can drop by anytime. I think we’ll both be happier this way.” Veronica squeezed his hand in approval.

Bud surprised her by directing his next words at her, “You take care of him, alright?”

Veronica was rather touched by that, and she nodded. “I promise.”

Bud nodded and reached out a hand to his son. JD shook it. Bud turned away, walked out the door, got into his car, and drove away.

The five were silent.

Veronica wanted to say something, but what do you say to someone whose only family had just left them behind? She reached up and brushed his hair out of his eyes, he looked down at her and she could see that he was tearing up.

She kissed him.

It wasn’t the time for words. She pulled back so she could give him a hug, which he reciprocated.

“Yay! Group hug!” Heather McNamara jumped on them, and Martha joined enthusiastically. Eventually Heather Duke got in on it too, squashing JD right in the middle.

They pulled apart, all laughing and reveling in the fact that they were still together. JD looked over them all, beaming. “Hey Veronica, will you go to winter formal with me? And prom? And maybe college?” She stared at him. Moments like this reminded her why she had suspected him at first. He was way too intense, but she had learned to accept it and recognize that it came from a good place.

Heather Duke had not learned that. “Woah, slow down! You sound like a crazy stalker.” Veronica could tell that she was going to take her role as adopted sister seriously.

Veronica smiled at JD, “Yes to the first to, and we’ll see how things go for the last one.” He looked thrilled.

“We should do something to celebrate!” Heather McNamara was always up for a party.

Martha piped up, “I could really go for some pizza.”

Heather Duke nodded, “Yeah! Let’s go to Moe’s!”

They piled into Martha’s minivan and ventured out. They sat in a booth in the corner, but they still received the usual whispers and stares. Their local celebrity status showed no signs of diminishing.

Veronica sipped on a coke, and voiced a question she had been pondering for a while, “What do you think Heather would say if she could see us now?”

Heather Duke looked thoughtful; “She would probably tell me not to waste the pizza, if I’m not going to digest it.”

JD plucked an ice cube from his cup and threw it at her, “Gross Heather, I hope you’ve gotten over that.”

Heather nodded, “I miss Heather sometimes, but I have to say things are easier without her.”

Martha nodded, “But she didn’t have to die. She was mean, and she hurt me really badly, but I want to believe that this could have still worked out in the end if Paul had never killed her.”

Veronica nodded, “She was a bitch, but she was also pretty amazing when you think about it. She could have ruled the world.”

JD agreed, “She would have gone to college and taken one feminist theory class and then single-handedly smashed the patriarchy.” They all laughed and then sighed at that. Heather Chandler would never see college. She would never outgrow her teenaged angst bullshit.

Heather McNamara held up her cup, “To Heather!”

“And to Ram,” Martha added.

“And Kurt too, I guess. They guy could throw a pretty good punch,” JD said grudgingly.

They put their glasses together, and the restaurant owner snapped their picture at that exact second. Veronica asked him to send it to her. It would be a perfect yearbook photo.


	9. Epilogue- Formal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not going to lie, I cried while writing this chapter. Thanks for sticking with me! Enjoy

December hit Sherwood, Ohio with deeply awful weather. Veronica was used to it, but she could tell JD was not a fan. At least he finally had a reason to wear that coat all the time. The school was still more of a tent camp than anything else. In fact, Veronica had heard one of their rival schools called them the ‘Westerburg Hobos’. The students embraced it and it became a wildly popular Hashtag.

This weekend was the highly anticipated winter formal, which was being held in the Sherwood Historic Hotel. Because of this classy relocation, everyone was treating it like some kind of gala.

Two weeks before the dance, the ladies of HoW went to the tri-county mall to buy dresses. Unsurprisingly, everyone had dates, though Veronica thought she had the best deal by going with a more serious boyfriend. Martha was the most excited of all of them.

“I just can’t wait for you to meet him! He’s so sweet and funny. You’ll love him!” She had been going on and on about a guy she met on Tumblr who had requested artwork from her. They had started a friendship, and she had invited him to the formal after their first in-person meeting went well.

Heather Duke whispered to Veronica, “He’s starting to sound like Jesus or something. Should we tell her to calm down? She might freak him out.”

Veronica shook her head, “The extreme always makes an impression, let her be who she is. If he doesn’t like that and he hurts her… well, we know JD is good at punching people.”

Duke laughed. Veronica had been thrilled when she and JD had settled into an easy—if vitriolic— brother/sister relationship after he moved in. Mr. and Mrs. Duke had also accepted him into the fold very easily. Veronica and JD still occasionally snuck into each other’s rooms through the window, though for the most part both sets of parents had accepted their relationship.

Martha held up a frothy pink dress, “Will this make me look fat?” She was still insecure, but motivation from Veronica, Heather, and Heather had built her confidence a lot. It probably helped that no one had called her Dumptruck since Heather Duke punched a kid in the cafeteria for using the old nickname. (JD had given her lessons; her parents asked that he please stop.) The HoW protected their own.

Heather McNamara tilted her head to the side, “It won’t make you look fat because that’s dumb, but I think it’s too plain for you. You should wear something sparkly!” Heather had found her dress at a vintage store earlier so she was busily trying to find the perfect dress for the others.

“Heather!” McNamara called, emerging from behind a rack of dresses, “Try this one, it’ll look amazing on you!” Veronica agreed that the green dress would suit Heather really well. Heather took the dress with a critical look, but it passed her inspection and she took it to the fitting room.

Heather and Martha both found something at that store, but Veronica was struggling. They decided to hit one last store—an old favorite of Heather Chandler’s—before they went home. Veronica saw the dress in the window. They were in the store for barely ten minutes, and she left with it. They drove home listening to cheesy eighties pop songs, though they switched when “Teenaged Suicide (Don’t Do It)” came on. It was a little too on the nose for their taste.

That night was pizza and movies, which JD was allowed to crash. Veronica watched the first fifteen minutes of the movie before she grabbed JD’s hand and went upstairs to his room.

As much as she loved all of her friends, sometimes she really wanted to be alone with her boyfriend.

She sat on his bed and he lay down with his head in her lap. They were silent for a while as she stroked his hair absent-mindedly.

“Do you ever think about Paul?” He asked, breaking the silence.

She chewed on her lip, not sure how to respond. “Yeah I do. I sometimes freak out because we’re all friends now because of what he did.”

JD stopped her, “No, we’re friends because of what we did to stop him. It’s different.”

“Yeah, but we might never have all been like this if he hadn’t done all that stuff.”

“Paul believed that the only way everyone could get along was if they were dead. We proved him wrong. _We_ cleaned up Westerburg, not Paul.” JD’s words comforted Veronica; this had been bothering her for a while.

JD still seemed unsettled though, “I sometimes think that I could have been just like him.”

“What? JD no! Of course you aren’t like him! You’re—“

“You thought I was like him. You thought I _was_ him,” She started to interrupt but he stopped her, “And you had good reasons to think that. I think maybe if things had turned out differently, I might have been the psycho everyone thought I was. If it wasn’t for you and Martha, and the Heathers I would have eventually snapped. That scares me. I don’t want to be like him.” Veronica thought he was still talking about Paul, but he just as easily could have been talking about his father.

“JD, I think the fact that you’re scared of that is the exact reason that you won’t ever be like him. But if you’re ever afraid that you’re going to snap, call me. I bet I can talk you down.” She smiled a little, and he returned it.

He kissed her and she slid her hands into his hair, keeping him close. As usual things with them got intense fast. He leaned over her and she placed a hand on his hip, keeping the other behind his neck. She loved the feel of his weight on top of her, and loved how the whole world slipped away when they were together. He said she had melted his walls, but she believed he had shattered hers as well. They fit each other, their damaged edges sliding together to create something whole and pure. They spent the night enjoying the sensation of being beautiful together.

The night of the dance came up fast. The girls gathered at Heather Dukes house to get ready. Their dates would come over for pictures later. Veronica didn’t know what Heather had told him to keep him away, but it must have been a terrifying threat, because he didn’t even come down to greet here when she got there.

Getting ready for a dance with two Heathers was almost as intense as being in the Heathers again. It started with facemasks, which were allowed to set while they painted each other’s nails and gossiped. Then it was time to do hair.

Heather McNamara thankfully was gifted with a curling iron; otherwise Veronica’s hair would have been a nightmare. Heather Duke swept Martha’s long hair into an elegant updo she had seen on Pinterest. Both Heathers took care of their hair without assistance.

While they were doing makeup, Heather McNamara abruptly said, “I miss Heather.” There was no need to ask which Heather she meant.

“Yeah, she was amazing at this type of thing. She could make anyone look incredible.” Duke agreed.

“And no one can do my eyebrows the way she could,” McNamara added. Veronica knew that better than anyone here; she had been one of Heather’s projects.

The little moments when they remembered the three students who had died were a comfort to all of them. Veronica always thought it was nice to know that no one would forget Heather Chandler.

As they were all getting into their dresses there was a knock on the door. “Heather!” JD’s voice called from the other side, “I need help!”

“Ugh, we’re busy, what do you want?” Heather Duke rolled her eyes at them, “If you’re just trying to get in to see Veronica it isn’t going to work!”

“Yeah she’s ours for now!” McNamara called with a wide smile.

“Heather, just get out here please!” She rolled her eyes again but went to the door and slipped out of the room.

She came back a couple minutes later, looking a little sad. “He didn’t know how to tie a tie.” This didn’t surprise Veronica, though the fact that he was going to wear one did.

Heather McNamara shook her head, “I do not understand how that boy could have been to ten high schools and never gone to a single dance.”

“It would have ruined his image,” Martha said sagely.

Veronica just laughed. The reason was probably because he’d had no one to go with, due to his old habit of avoiding people, but she didn’t say this.

They were nearly ready when the doorbell rang. “That’ll be Jake and Charles, we should start heading down.” Heather said. She was stunning in a short gold lame` dress from the eighties. She looked like a rockstar.

Heather Duke nodded and stood up from her seat at the vanity. Her dress was dark green with black beading and she had on heels that could probably kill a man.

Martha stayed where she was, putting the last touches of mascara on. She had chosen a pink and purple ombre` dress with many layers of tulle. She looked like a fairy princess.

Veronica’s dress was edgier, and it definitely pushed the boundaries of the dress code, but she figured she could get away with it having saved the school from a psycho bomber. It was high necked but backless, with a slit up the side that went just an inch or so too high. It was brilliant cobalt blue, and she thought Heather would have approved.

JD certainly did. His jaw actually dropped for a second when she came down the stairs. He regained his composure and went back to being cool a second later, but she had seen it. “Veronica,” Just the way he said her name expressed everything he was trying to say, so she kissed him instead of letting him finish.

Seeing him in a suit shocked her a little bit too. He was wearing mostly black, but his tie was olive green to match the beat up sneakers he was wearing. He looked amazing, but still like himself. It was perfect.

After a million pictures, they all piled into Martha’s car (it was the biggest) and drove to the hotel. Everyone had made a big deal about how classy and cool it was that they didn’t have to be in a gym, but it didn’t affect their behavior. The dance floor was a huge pit of grinding, sweaty teenagers in formalwear. The eight of them all dove right in.

It was a huge, amazing mess. JD couldn’t dance for shit, which Veronica found incredibly endearing. Occasionally, the girls ditched their dates all danced together. Heather McNamara made them all look clumsy, but Veronica didn’t care. It felt like all the difficulties of her senior year had culminated in this moment, and it was worth it.

They squeezed through the crowd to get off the dance floor for some water. Veronica had never seen JD this happy. Staying in Sherwood had been the best thing for him. She knew he felt the same way, and it had led to a lot of positive changes for him. He was still edgy, but he no longer looked or acted like a murder suspect (aside from the coat, which he refused to part with. Secretly she didn’t mind.)

He pulled her back onto the dance floor when a slow song played. It was some sappy pop song that he normally would have hated, but he sang along softly as they revolved in slow circles.

He smiled down at her, “Our love is God.”

She spoiled what was probably supposed to be a romantic moment by laughing, “What does that even mean?”

He chuckled, “I don’t know, it’s just something I heard in some song.” They both dissolved into laughter. It was a very edgelord thing to say.

The whole group left the dance early. They went to the ruins of the high school and sat in the crater where the gym had been. Many parts of it had been fixed, but the gym was a logistical nightmare so it was still construction free.

JD set built a fire while Heather McNamara passed a couple bottles of cheap alcohol around. Veronica felt pleasantly buzzed, and with the fire in front of her and JD’s coat wrapped around her she was warm.

They talked about the future, and they talked about the past. They finally told Martha’s date the whole story of how their friendship had emerged from its rocky beginnings.

They laughed and they cried, and for a few hours they were just seventeen, and they would live forever.


End file.
